Hungarians may not have to wait for wage increase until January

It looks like the minimum wage could rise by 15% next year, while the wage minimum for skilled workers could be raised by 10%. In the case of the latter, employers want a smaller increase, while workers want a bigger one, Sándor Czomba, state secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development, told public television M1 on Tuesday. However, the government did not support the third element, a one-off wage compensation of HUF 100,000.

This is in line with Portfolio's earlier information that minimum wage earners and those on the guaranteed wage minimum cannot expect to receive 100,000 HUF tax and contribution-free wage compensation at the end of this year. The representatives of employers and employees will agree on other ways to compensate for the fall in real wages this year.

Sándor Czomba said that the problem with the HUF 100,000 one-off payment would not have been a mandatory benefit. Therefore, it is by no means certain that those earning minimum wage or the wage minimum would have received it.

Now there is an offer on the table of the government from both sides (employers and employees) on whether we can bring forward the increase of the minimum wage and the wage minimum to December, Sándor Czomba said. This is a much better offer and I think it is acceptable to the government, he added.

Employees have asked for next year's wage increase to be brought forward - if the government no longer supports the HUF 100,000 compensation - because of high inflation in 2023. It is very likely that this will be the solution, as the state secretary said the government could stand behind it. However, it is worth noting that this will only amount to just over HUF 20,000, which is one fifth of the original proposal.

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